Prank War
by xxDodo
Summary: Prank war: In which steadily eviler pranks are pulled until all but one participant surrenders. All the Rangers, Gilan, and a monkey should make that interesting. Rated for slight language, and evilness.
1. Prologue

**Hello! :) This was requested by **Fullmetallock**, and I finally got around to writing it *looks sheepish* But I'm glad to know people find my character-teasing funny ^_^. **

**Not sure how many chapters this will have; I'm planning on three or four but if I get more ideas or suggestions I'll keep writing! **

**So, enjoy the hopeful hilarity and clever...cleverness of the Prank Wars!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice**

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

Halt swore that the day Gilan got the notion of a prank war into his head was the day all hell broke loose in the Ranger world. Of all the things any apprentice had done in the forty year or so history of the Corps, Gilan topped it all. It was quite the story to be passed down by all mentors of every generation, each version a little altered in order to make someone seem more adept at pranking. However, they all started the same way. With one persistent apprentice.

The first step for Gilan was to convince his mentor Halt to participate in his game. This happened at their cabin in Redmont fief, the provocation pranks including freezing Halt's cloak, hiding his belongings, spicing up the Ranger's coffee, and other petty things to entice Halt into gaining revenge.

Halt, however, refused to take part. He made this clear after opening the cabin door and being dumped on the head with, not dirty water, but oatmeal Gilan had been storing from many uneaten breakfasts.

"I know what you're doing, Gilan," Halt said calmly, moving his arms in an attempt to shake off the oatmeal. "And I'm still not going to do this pointless and immature "prank war" with you." With that, Halt grabbed a bucket of extra water from the barrel by the door and headed to the bathroom, large globs of oatmeal sticking to his clothes.

"I thought you'd say that," Gilan spoke softly to himself as the door to the bathroom shut. The teenager grinned contentedly and flopped onto the couch, waiting for his last plan to work.

In the bathroom, Halt frowned as he sat in the water, feeling something soft underneath the water. Suspicions growing, he glanced at the bottom of the tub and, seeing what was there, groaned and stumbled out of the bathtub. _This is the last straw_, he thought. _There is no way I'm putting up with any more of this. _And it was natural too, something anyone would do when they found they had been taking a bath in half-water, half-horse poop. The Ranger managed to wrap a towel around himself before storming through the door and facing his expectant apprentice.

"Alright!" Halt burst out, hair and body dripping with the water but feet coated with the brown dung. "I accept. Watch your back Gil; the prank war is on."

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><p><strong>Hehe, revenge is near...<strong>

**I know it was extremely short, but prologues were made to be short :). And I've already got the next chapter planned. By the way, there will be more characters in this, as I have a Gathering scene later on. *evil gin***

Fullmetallock** and everyone else, hope you liked it! Review, and I'll post the next chapter soon! **

**-Dodo**


	2. Sleeplessness, Makeup, and an Idea

**The revenge is to begin! Thank you for all the reviews, and please keep doing so!**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter One: Sleeplessness, Make-up, and an Idea<br>**

Gilan planned to sleep peacefully that night, despite the fact that Halt had threatened to make him scream like a little girl. There was no doubt in the mischievous apprentice's mind that whatever Halt did, he could do something twice as better. He had been the champion of this all four times he and his friends had played. Gilan came from a long line of high-ranking pranksters, and there was no way he was going to give up his title now.

So, the boy started to get suspicious when, whichever way he lay, it felt like pins were digging into his back. After a few tosses and turns, Gilan got up and moved the sheet off his straw mattress, revealing little pieces of straw sticking out of holes made in the cloth.

Gilan smirked. "Very clever, Halt," he muttered sarcastically while pushing the straw back in. Then the boy snuggled back into his bed. _He tried_, was Gilan's last smug thought before he fell asleep, but he should've known Halt wasn't done yet.

_Cock-a-doodle-do! _The ungodly noise woke Gilan up just before dawn. The boy opened his eyes to a load of feathers and fat practically sitting on his face and refusing to shut up. Flailing his arms a bit, the now-recognizable rooster on his face moved to the other side of the bed, which was already covered with suspicious-looking globs of white.

Groaning loudly, Gilan tumbled out of bed, causing the rooster to flap his wings and squawk indignantly even louder. Frustratedly rubbing his arms to presumably rid himself of the rooster germs, Gilan staggered to the door and sleepily came to a stop in the main room, revealing Halt sitting in his favorite chair and sipping a mug of coffee.

"What the _hell_, Halt?" Gilan slurred angrily, though most of the annoyance in his tone lost in the sleepiness of his voice.

"Language," was all the twinkly eyed Ranger had to say over the crows of the rooster.

Gilan clamped his hands over his ears. He still had at least an hour of sleep left. "Make it stop," he groaned.

Halt shrugged. "Your problem." Then he picked up a report from the coffee table and started to read it, the hellish noises emitting from Gilan's room not at all bothering the practiced Ranger.

Gilan marched back into his room, furiously rubbing sleep from his eyes. First he was going to throw the bird out, preferably in the general direction of the butcher's, but then it was Halt's tun.

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><p>It was the next morning, and Halt had all his senses on alert to see what Gilan could possibly have messed with. His first hint was that on the table beside his bed, instead of his knives, there was a handkerchief and some powder.<p>

Suspicions heightened, Halt studied his face in the mirror while reaching for his shaving (the term being arguable) than find them, however, Halt's hand closed around the handle of a hairbrush.

Turning his head slowly with a growing sense of "oh no," the Ranger was met with the sight of several feminine objects, including perfume, lip color, several pieces of ribbon, and even a bonnet.

Hand still grasping the hairbrush, Halt marched into the main room, mouth opened to demand of the surprisingly awake Gilan where in God's name were all of his things. But Halt paused when he saw that in place of his cloak was a long, frilly dress hanging by the door, and his bow had been replaced with a nice woven basket.

Scowling darkly and eyes narrowed, Halt turned to Gilan again, who was edging across the room.

But Gilan was saved by several loud knocks on the door. He breathed a sigh of relief which turned to more suppressed laughter as Halt went to open the door, the hairbrush still in his hand.

Gilan swore he died laughing then and there as the door opened to reveal a dangerously furious Pauline. Her eyebrows shot up into her hair as she caught sight of the brush in Halt's hands and the dress, now undoubtedly belonging to her, hanging by the door.

Halt shook his head, holding up his hands in a gesture of piece. "This is not what it looks like!" Halt tried to move to the giggling Gilan across the room.

_Smack! _Shocked, Halt could only stare dumbstruck as the tall courier pushed past him into the cabin, walking with a calm fury through Halt's room and the bathroom, collecting all her stolen possessions.

She would probably never speak to him again, Halt thought as Pauline headed back to the door, because the slap was a clear sign.

"Can I have my weapons back?" Halt couldn't help but ask weakly. His answer was a deadly glare from those blue eyes and the door slamming in his face.

Halt turned slowly to look at his apprentice, who had finally managed to catch his breath and was looking thoughtful, but the expression quickly changed to that of panic as he noted the murderous look on Halt's face.

Gilan tried to talk his way out, as always, "Wait, I have an idea-"

"I am going to _kill_ you Gilan!" Halt lunged and grabbed the back of the frantic apprentice's cloak, causing him to squeal with little dignity.

"Truce!" Gilan shouted. "Just for a few minutes!"

Halt glared, poised to drag the boy outside and do...something. "What?"

"What do you think the other Rangers would think of this war?" The older Ranger just raised an eyebrow, not letting go, so Gilan continued, "The Gathering's in a few days. What do you say?"

Halt caught on, then nodded slowly as he contemplated the idea. All fifty Rangers and their apprentices, turned against each other in a wicked battle of cleverness and stealth, originality and ruthlessness. People would be hurt, turncoats in every corner, alliances made, and all in all a Ranger Prank War like never before. The first of sure to be many.

It would be beautiful.

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><p><strong>That was harder than I thought to write. It was easier thinking of pranks done by Gilan, for some reason :D. Any suggestions?<strong>

**Also, I really appreciate the favorites/alerts, but seriously guys it only takes two seconds to review along with favoriting; I accept anonymous reviews! So, please, just tell me what you thought :).**

**-Dodo**


	3. Attack of the MonkeyGoblin

**Thanks you so much for the reviews! You all are awesomesauce :).**

**I'll say now that full credit for the "Halt having a monkey" idea in this chapter goes to **Shadow Cyrse**! No flames about monkeys most likely not being indigenous to that area, I don't really care. But anyone curious yet? ^_^**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Two: Attack of the Monkey-Goblins<strong>

Perhaps Gilan should have been more clear on the concept of inviting all the Rangers into his and Halt's prank war. This because his mentor was as completely unassuming as a Ranger could be when he and his apprentice traveled to the Gathering two days later. So, when something soft, black-and-white, and almost as loud as the rooster dropped from the trees and onto Halt's head, the Ranger might have screamed, had he been the screaming type. Halt stuck with swearing as he fell off his horse.

Gilan hooted with laughter, and there was suddenly no doubt in his mentor's mind who had "hired" the monkey. Halt managed to pull the animal off of his face momentarily.

"_I thought we were on the same team!_" Halt shouted from under the monkey's furry and exploratory body.

"There are no teams, Halt!" Gilan replied breathlessly from where he'd also fallen off of his horse. Blaze and Abelard, by the way, also looked highly amused. And it wasn't until the small monkey had pinned the old Ranger to the ground that Abelard finally came forward and grabbed the black fur-ball by the scruff of its neck and Halt was able to roll onto his back.

Gilan hoisted himself to his feet using Blaze to steady himself. Then he squinted at the Ranger on the ground, snickering as he imagined that his mentor had gained several more gray hairs from the ordeal. Gilan had to point it out, but all Halt had the energy to do was glare from his position on the ground.

"Halt?" Gilan asked, and it was either stupidity or an extreme wish to die that compelled him. But then, those were usually what caused Gilan's actions anyway.

"What?" Halt growled.

"I know a recipe for some very effective hair-dye."

Gilan hastily nudged Blaze into a fast gallop before Halt could pick himself up, ditch the monkey, and follow, though the murderous look was becoming all too familiar to the apprentice.

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><p>Halt gradually grew used to having the monkey on his shoulder as they continued, being distracted from his vow to kill Gilan as he fed the animal some bread.<p>

"He's cute," Gilan commented, also having disregarded Halt's threats.

"Felix has his mother's face," Halt answered, and Gilan nearly choked on his soup.

"_Felix?_" he repeated incredulously. "You _named _it?" For some reason, Halt didn't strike him as the pet type.

"Him," Halt automatically corrected, then he tried to back track. "I mean, I can't get rid of him, so I need to refer to him somehow."

"Right." Gilan continued to stare.

Halt rolled his eyes. "Let's just get moving."

Gilan agreed, and he noticed how Halt was careful to help Felix to a position on the older Ranger's shoulders. The apprentice just shook his head, deciding to be content with the fact that he had made the well-respected Ranger go soft at a monkey.

Halt and Gilan trotted (well, their _horses_ trotted) into the clearing where the Gathering was being held some time later.

"Hi, you two, we've been waiting!" Crowley tilted his head to his side in amusement as he studied Halt. "Why do you have a monkey?" The animal chattered from Halt's shoulder, and Crowley instinctively waved back.

Halt reached up to scratch the small thing between the ears. "Felix," was all he said.

Crowley immediately looked to Gilan, who shrugged but looked quite proud. Things were made slightly clearer.

"We want to run an idea by you, Crowley," Gilan said excitedly.

"Sure," Crowley spoke as Halt and Gilan slid from their horses and walked to where they would set up their tent.

"Two words: Prank. War."

"Prank war," Crowley repeated thoughtfully, and Gilan nodded. There was no doubt in his or Halt's mind that the commandant would agree: Crowley was known to love jokes almost as much as Gilan. "I like it," he finally said, starting to smile.

"Free for all," Halt put in. "Teams only with the members' consent." He shot a glare at Gilan, obviously betrayed, but the apprentice just shrugged. He'd never really _said _that he and Halt would be working together. Prank wars required going solo, brief alliances if any. Gilan took this seriously.

Crowley was thinking much along the same lines Halt had when Gilan had brought it to him. And, like Halt, he knew it would probably be the most amusing thing any Ranger had come up with since his idea to scare the heck out of apprentices on their graduation.

Crowley grinned. "I'll make the announcement."

Needless to say, everyone pounced on the challenge, small and even smaller groups immediately breaking out. Everyone put up their guard, Ranger training of clever and stealthy operations kicking in.

_But first_, Halt thought as he slipped away to meet with some of his own acquaintances, Felix content on his shoulder. _There's a certain apprentice to be taken care of. _

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><p>Gilan really should have started sleeping with one eye open, as Halt often suggested when the boy was being particularly annoying. That night was just another reason.<p>

Gilan awoke to his shoulder being poked and his name being called eerily, "_Giiii-llaaan..._"

The boy's eyes fluttered open, and he came face-to-face with something that had long, shaggy hair, a large nose, and a green face.

With a shout Gilan instinctively tried to move back and tangled himself in his blankets. Eyes darting wildly around, Gilan caught sight of two more goblin-like creatures, and one quite tiny one with pointy ears and the sharpest teeth. Gilan was quite sure he whimpered.

The idea that Halt was pranking him didn't even cross the frightened apprentice's mind.

The last straw was when the smallest goblin-like thing opened its mouth and started to screech. Gilan screamed along with the monkey/creature from hell and curled into a tight ball, rocking back and forth to escape the horrific cries.

Halt and the other two Rangers slipped out of the tent, snickering and shaking hands at a job well done. Halt petted Felix on the head to get him to quiet down, the rare expression of a wide grin on the Ranger's face.

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><p>The next morning, Halt made his way to the large coffee pot over the fire available to all of the Rangers. If anyone had been watching closely, they would have noticed the slight bounce in the otherwise stoical Ranger's step, caused by the success of the previous night's prank on Gilan. Also, peeking out from under where the cloak fastened to Halt's collar, there was a small, furry head. Felix was a constant travel companion now, having done such amazing acting last night.<p>

Fighting back a smirk and nearing the coffee, Halt's eyes narrowed slightly. A somewhat large group of first-year apprentices were hanging around the area. Some of them were handing out coffee, but the others were snickering nearby. Glancing around more, Halt noticed more than a few other Rangers with drinks hacking as though their life depended on it. He shrugged it off though: Rangers always took large swigs of their first cup, and it was probably just too hot. He took a sip of his own cup that had been handed to him, and immediately spit it out.

The taste was bitter, but not coffee-like bitter. Smacking his lips a few times, Halt dubbed it as salt. But why would salt be in the Corps morning coffee pot?

Eyes drawn to the now outright laughing first-years, Halt came to the conclusion along with about everyone else.

It was quite a good idea; the apprentices being only first-years, they weren't at all as addicted to coffee as the more senior members, and therefore had no problem going one morning without the bitter drink. They had obviously decided to see how the other Rangers would take it. (Halt, for one, was irritated, realizing he'd have to make his own cup because Gilan would no doubt refuse after his scare.)

The teens quickly realized their mentors did _not _take well to having their coffee tampered with. No one wanted to be in the line of fire when the Corps came to its senses.

The offending apprentices scattered. Half the Rangers were still gagging from the huge intake, some had disappeared to plot their next move, and still others were rounding up with the intention to hunt down the boys and give them a piece of their mind about the clearly off-limits coffee pot. Gradually, though, those who had sought to seek their revenge had an idea, and prepared to set it in motion.

Now, it was their turn.

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><p><strong>Once again, thank you <strong>Shadow Cyrse**, because I now love that monkey. Which is a Capuchin, by the way.**

**Now, someone has to win this thing, so you have four choices and the outcome will **_**most likely **_**(key phrase) be the majority:**

**A. No one is deemed the winner, therefore opening the option of a sequel or more chapters, this time involving Will**

**B. Gilan**

**C. Halt**

**D. The monkey (That is random. I really don't know how to make that work.)**

**Or Crowley or someone else, if you really want. Lemme know in a _review_!**

**-Dodo**


	4. The HairStylings of Gilan

**Argh, sorry, this took longer than I thought, I was trying to focus on my other story :/. So, two people wanted Halt to win _and _a sequel (sorry), two** **wanted Felix, but the majority wanted a sequel with Will. Alrighty, then :).**

**Ever wondered what Halt would look like with a new hairstyle? *snicker***

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><p><strong>Chapter Four: The Hair-Stylings of Gilan<strong>

Halt seemed to have forgotten that Gilan was looking for revenge, and that no Ranger would do a favor willingly at such an intense moment in the Corps history – the prank war, that is – because when Robert offered to check Halt for the "lice" that were going around, Halt agreed. After all, the man was a professional. And when Robert blindfolded Halt as well, the Ranger only slightly suspiciously accepted the reason that infected hair would get into his eyes.

"I'm going to put some potion in your hair," Robert said easily, and Halt grunted in response.

Halt stiffened as Robert pulled his hair some minutes later. "What the devil are you doing?" he growled, wincing as his hair was pulled again.

"Er, sorry," the other Ranger muttered. "Lord, Halt, don't you comb your hair?"

Halt just shrugged.

Robert moved away for a second and Halt heard him rummaging around.

"How long will this take?"

"Just a moment," Robert assured his client, moving closer again. Halt heard him snicker, and the Ranger stirred uncomfortably,

"Stay still!"

Halt shifted and frowned slightly as he felt fingers run through his hair, and some gooey stuff be rubbed into it. All his hair seemed to have been moved to the top of his head, because Halt felt a breeze on the back of his neck that he hadn't for a long time. The older Ranger started to speak.

"Wow Halt," a voice, recognizable as Gilan's mischievous one, entered Halt's hearing first. "You've never looked better."

Halt's eyes narrowed under the blindfold at his apprentice's voice. Why would Gilan be here? _Unless..._

"I can barely recognize you under all the...color."_  
><em>

Finally, though a little too late, Halt's suspicions burst through and he tried to pull away.

"Halt, wait!" Robert started, alarmed, but Halt stood quickly, bumping into the other man and ripped off the blindfold just as Robert's hand slipped and sprayed the startled Ranger right in the beard area with an orange substance.

Robert's eyes widened and Gilan toppled sideways clutching his stomach in laughter. Robert quickly clamped his hand to him mouth to stifle his own amusement, because unlike the apprentice, the senior Ranger was quite sure Halt's murderous temper would turn on him.

And as Halt grabbed a mirror from Robert's kit and gaped at his reflection, the man was quite happy to let Gilan take most of the blame.

"He made me!" Robert pointed accusingly at the somewhat dying of laughter apprentice. "He...uh, he threatened to prank me!" All the same, the man was grinning helplessly.

Rather than take a poke at Robert's pride, Halt continued to stare in numb intrigue.

His black hair (not yet riddled with too much gray) had always been shaggy and down past the Ranger's ears, cut unevenly to stimulate the rumors that he used his own knife. Now it stuck up in a spike through the middle of his head, striped with colors of green, pink, and blue. It felt hard, so it had probably been gelled into the mohawk. To go along with it, Robert had added some sort of fake hair, part of a wig maybe, and braided it, so it now came down as a tail to Halt's mid-back. The Ranger's dark eyes went well with the punk-look, but his beard was dyed pink from Robert's accidental slip.

Looking at himself in the little hand mirror, Halt didn't think he'd ever looked so young.

The Ranger found his voice, not showing his slight pleasure at the "hip" new style. "I'm disappointed in you, Robert," Halt said coldly.

The other man's grin didn't falter, and neither did Gilan's snorts. "Who could turn down a chance to mess with your hair? I bet you would've made the same choice."

Robert took another look at Halt's comical head and snickered. Halt turned to glower at Gilan, but the apprentice just shook his head.

"Evil eyes are getting old, Halt," Gilan teased. "Just admit it: I'm the better pranker."

"Are not-" Halt started to say hotly, but was broken off by loud shouting coming from outside of the tent.

The three rushed outside and were caught in the crowd hurrying in the direction of the river. Nearly all of them gaped at Halt's head as they passed, but shrugged it off in only slight bewilderment. Anything could happen in the prank war, and currently a bigger event was being promised by the surroundings.

Evilly grinning apprentices, frantic shouting, and the always looming prank war merited that the sight they were to be met with would be most interesting.

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><p><strong>Sorry for the short chapter, but it just flowed better. Plus, I already have the last one written and will probably post in a few days, or earlier, cuz this was barely two pages. The cliff hanger from last chapter goes with this chapter's, I just really wanted to mess with Halt's hair :D <strong>

**The vote's still open for awhile then, just saying. Review?**

**-Dodo**


	5. Crowley Hates the Monkey

***blushes* D'aww you have no idea how big my head got this weekend. You. All. Are. Awesome. Sauce. And this is your fourth of July present! And if you don't know/care about the date, it can be a happy Monday to you ;).**

**Some credit must be given though. Thank you again: **NotMentallyHere **for the spiders, **Raider1427 **for the idea of trapping the Rangers, and **Ranger Adrian **for the lone Ranger stuck in the lake!**

**Enjoy the final installment of the Prank War!**

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><p><em>Evilly grinning apprentices, frantic shouting, and the always looming prank war merited that the sight they were to be met with would be most interesting...<em>

**Chapter 5: Crowley Hates the Monkey**_  
><em>

Upon reaching the body of freshwater, all eyes were drawn to the absolutely furious Ranger Meralon, caught in the current and floating downstream on top of his sleeping bag. Nearby, his apprentice and the boy's friends handed out high-fives, not caring about the imminent fury sure to be released on them.

"_Halt?" _Crowley's shocked call reached all ears. "_What-_?" He made a strange gesture to his head with his hands, obviously referring to Halt's new hair.

Halt waved him off airily, though was secretly pleased his friend had noticed (not that he couldn't have). "It's what all the kids' hair looks like these days, Crowls," Halt said coolly to a flabbergasted Crowley. "Get with it."

Crowley just laughed nervously, shooting an accusing glare at Gilan. The boy put his hands up innocently: Halt's mental health wasn't his doing, at least. Then, along with the previously giggling apprentices, someone started to laugh.

Gilan started chuckling too, as did several other Rangers; Meralon was not very well liked amongst them all, and Halt's current state left them all highly amused. Attention to the both however, was diverted by exclamations of fear from a group in the back.

"_Spiders!_" someone, an apprentice by the sound of it, shrieked the loudest. "Ge'off, ge'off, ge'off!"

There were several more shouts of surprise as the little creatures, hundreds of them by the looks of it, scuttled through the boots and even started climbing the long legs. The apprentice who was deathly afraid was doing a sort of hopping dance from one foot to the other while continuing his chant of: "Ge'off, ge'off, ge'off!"

The two Rangers who had opened the box containing the large, hairy creatures stayed to the side, but their hooting laughter didn't last long as the spiders realized more victims resided behind them and changed course. A dozen or so of them broke free and rushed seemingly with a devious purpose in the direction of a frantically walking backwards Gilan.

Suddenly, the apprentice (who was seriously rethinking this whole pranking idea in the chaos of the clearing) felt his foot land on something that gave way, and judging by the sinking feeling in his stomach, it couldn't have promised anything good.

Gilan shut his eyes. "Uh-oh."

_SNAP! _Every hand went to their quiver or knives, only to realize all weapons had been left by their campfires, just as there was the ominous sound of rope being released and a net being dropped. Felix was the only one able to get out of the way, even then making things worse by causing a nearby tree to take all the weight and the net full of Rangers and their apprentices to be hoisted into the air.

The spiders couldn't fly up to them at least, but, obviously, this was a problem. And after a moment of stunned silence from this sudden change of events, irritated complaints and questions sounded from all areas of the net.

"I can't find my elbow!"

Someone giggled as they were tickled, then while still laughing, "It's killing me!"

"Whose butt is in my face?"

"Do you _know _where the hell your foot is right now?"

"Stop that!" one apprentice said loudly to another. "I'm not gay!" That earned a few snickers, but everyone still squirmed.

"Everyone freeze!" Crowley shouted, using his best "I'm the Commandant, do as I say" voice. "Now, which of the geniuses that put this up know how to get us down?"

Nobody spoke up. Just as Crowley was about to growl frustratedly again (because Ranger 24's knee was digging quite painfully into his chest), high-pitched noises were heard coming from inside the tree. The Commandant attempted to twist his head around to look at a branch on the tree they all were stuck in, and came face to face with that seemingly innocent creature Halt had brought to the Gathering.

The monkey was...it almost seemed like...was that animal _laughing _at them? Crowley fumed silently. He then glared at the ape-like thing, again using his Commandant voice to order, "Get us down."

The monkey chattered back.

"Halt!" Crowley burst out.

"Mhmm..." came the muffled reply from some where to his bottom left. Looking down in surprise, Crowley sheepishly removed the inside of his knee from Halt's face.

"Tell your monkey to get us out."

Halt spat out the Crowley-taste and cleared his throat. "Felix, let daddy and his friend's down," Halt coaxed.

Nearly everyone attempted to stifle their laughter. Everyone, that is, except Gilan, who quite loudly snorted and repeated incredulously, "_Daddy?_"

Felix chattered almost indignantly, and sat down hard on the branch in a way that can only be described as huffily.

"Now look!" Halt snapped. "You've made him upset." And thus the Ranger continued to try to soothe the monkey with various pet names and voices. Gilan, Crowley, and every other member of the Corps were quite sure the old man had gone senile.

"Felix, please..." Halt started.

Before he could continue, the monkey smiled. Well, he seemed to smile, personally Crowley thought it was more an evil grin and didn't want to know what the thing was thinking. The Capuchin held up a single, razor-sharp claw and moved forward. Halt's eyes widened.

"No, Felix, not like-!"

Too late.

The net dropped to the ground and Rangers tumbled out of the now untied hole. No one was seriously hurt, thankfully, but Crowley lay squashed under many bodies of Rangers clambering to be released.

"Never again," Crowley gasped, choking slightly as Ranger 24 (whom Crowley now recalled was called Carl) struggled to his feet and off of his Commandant's chest. "Never."

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><p>With that, Gilan stopped and leaned back contentedly, giving the impression that the story was over. But Will wasn't completely satisfied.<p>

"Wait, wait, wait," Will protested. "Who won?"

Will, Gilan, and Halt sat in the main room of the Ranger cabin in Redmont while Gilan and Halt took turns recounting their escapades in the prank war so many years ago.

"No one yet," Halt said as he turned his coffee mug upside down, frowning in disappointment when nothing came out. "It's still going. With less extremes since that last incident, but here and there little pranks are still pulled."

"Hold on a moment," Gilan protested, putting aside his own mug, also empty. "_I _pulled the last prank on you Halt, I won!"

Halt waved a hand. "It wasn't really a prank – I wasn't annoyed."

"So?" Gilan countered. "A prank's a prank."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yah-huh!"

Will interrupted with a grin. "Can I play?"

Halt and Gilan looked at each other and laughed, argument momentarily forgotten. "You sure you can handle it?" Halt said patronizingly.

"Of course!" Will said indignantly. "You both just wait and see." Then he paused as something else occurred to him, and Will looked between his two skeptical friends as he continued, "One more question: What happened to Halt's monkey?"

**TBC (with the monkey...)**

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><p><strong>So, yeah, eventually I decided the monkey must have some epic moment :). <strong>

**I suppose if you all still want I'll start on the sequel soon. Lemme know!**

**Review? Happy 4th/Monday!**

**-Dodo**


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